Parliament’s Conditions for Importing Civilian Drones

According to Saednews, members of Parliament in today’s public session approved Articles 1 to 5 of the bill regulating remotely piloted aircraft (civilian drones) as follows:

Article 1 – Definitions and Terms

1. Civilian drone: An unmanned aerial vehicle remotely piloted or automatically programmed with civilian use, whose instances will be determined by the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics in the working group mentioned in Note 3 of this law.

2. Organization: The Civil Aviation Organization of the country.

3. Owner: A natural or legal person who has been officially issued a formal ownership document of a civilian drone in accordance with the provisions of this law.

4. Operator: Natural or legal persons who have received an operation license from the Organization for using the civilian drone and providing flight services.

5. Flight operation: The set of actions and processes carried out before and after the flight, including planning, obtaining necessary permits, estimates and calculations, executing the flight, and post-flight procedures.

6. Operation: Any use of civilian drones according to the provisions of this law.

7. User: A person holding a valid certificate who is responsible for piloting the drone, whether the owner or not.

Article 2 – The supply, supervision, operation, guidance, usage, and other matters related to drones used by security agencies and bodies shall be governed by an instruction prepared by the Armed Forces General Staff and the Ministry of Intelligence in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, the IRGC Intelligence Organization, and the Law Enforcement Force (FARAJA), approved by the Supreme National Security Council.

Article 3 – The National Security Council is responsible for policymaking, coordination, and supervision over the proper implementation of this law.

Note: To benefit from expert opinions of related bodies, the National Security Council shall form a Civilian Drones Working Group, headed by the Council’s Secretary and including representatives from the Armed Forces General Staff, Ministries of Roads and Urban Development, Industry, Mining and Trade, Intelligence, Interior, Communications and Information Technology, Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, IRGC Intelligence Organization, the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces Command, and the IRGC’s Tharallah Headquarters.

Article 4 – Preliminary approval for the industrial structure and production of all types of civilian drones and the issuance of establishment permits, observing environmental deployment regulations according to the Concentration of Industry and Mining Affairs Act and the formation of the Ministry of Industry and Mines (approved in 2000 with amendments), after confirmation of no significant criminal record by the Judiciary and security clearance from the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization, and after obtaining defense considerations approval from the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, will be done by the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade.

Note 1: Issuing activity licenses for all types of civilian drones including training, repairs, operations, and issuing pilot certificates after confirmation of no significant criminal record by the Judiciary, security clearance from the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization, and obtaining defense considerations approval from the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, is the responsibility of the Organization (Civil Aviation Organization). All rulings of this article shall comply with the decisions of the working group mentioned in Note 3 of Article 3 of this law.

Note 2: The Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy is tasked, in cooperation with the Ministries of Industry, Mining and Trade, and Agriculture, to support the localization and transfer of new technologies in the production of civilian drones and to design and implement mechanisms for knowledge exchange in drone design and production between military and civilian sectors and knowledge-based companies, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.

Note 3: Upon the Organization’s proposal, health indicators for civilian drone pilots will be approved by the National Security Council three months after this law comes into effect. Physical and psychological condition assessments of individuals must be performed by a trusted physician of the Organization, and security clearances from the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization must be obtained for participation in training courses at licensed schools for issuing certificates.

Note 4: Manufacturing and producing drones without the licenses mentioned in this article is a crime and the offender will be subject to one or more of the penalties of the third degree under Article 19 of the Islamic Penal Code.

Members also agreed to add a note to Article 4, mandating the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, in cooperation with the Organization and the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, to devise export mechanisms for civilian drone products and services and the necessary licensing procedures for export facilitation in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, to be approved within three months of the law’s enforcement by the working group of civilian drones in Article 3.

Article 5 was also approved, stating that the import of civilian drones and their components, except when there are no domestic equivalents or domestic production does not meet national needs, or when developing knowledge-based production requires importing final product samples; after obtaining security clearances and no significant criminal record from the Judiciary, security clearance from the Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC Intelligence Organization, defense considerations approval from the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, and compliance with safety standards as determined by the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, and within the framework of the working group permit (Note 3, Article 3), shall be prohibited.

Violators will, in addition to confiscation of goods, be sentenced to one or more of the third-degree discretionary punishments under Article 19 of the Islamic Penal Code (approved April 21, 2013).